Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Mirror, mirror on the wall;
Who's my favourite of them all?

Mistress, mistress oh so dear;
Might be Lily,
Oh no! She's here!

Hi readers :) That was a short poem I wrote, just to spice things up, since we're already concluding our study of the novel. Now you can guess who my favourite character is!

I thought that the bees' story where one bee was trapped by Lily in a jar is a direct interpretation of Lily herself, stuck in a growth phase where she doesn't have the freedom to develop as a teenager or as a person. However, I admired her determination (a word commonly used here) to get out of her life shack and went on a search (or an adventure, as I prefer it) for her mother's background.

One more thing, I personally looove Zach and Lily! I'm not saying they're a perfect couple, but it touched my heart when Lily admitted that she was crying a river not because she doesn't want to throw flowers or write about trees, but she was actually tearing up because she realised how much her heart flutters and breaks for Zach, the one black boy she couldn't have at the time.

Before I forget, an excerpt from T-Ray's own feelings, from his own POV would give the valuable novel an extra added value. Because to me, fathers have their own unique way of showing love and each person, having experienced different traumas might have different perceptions on how to show love to a daughter.

I'm sorry for sending in late!

*** NADYA ***

The Last Buzz :(

Hello there :) how was your weekendd? mine was great! good news. Now for the bad news is that this could be my last blog entry for this novel, the secret life of bees. For this last blog entry, I will give my own opinion on the book itself and also some of the things that i have learned.

So first of all, i really enjoy books that relates to history and somehow has a bit of relationship towards it but not too CHEESY (Lily & Zach) and also don't forget conflicts. I am a very picky person and doeskin like reading books but this book fulfill my needs (it got me). I have to bow down to Sue Monk Kid who did a great job at creating this novel. There are things that i don't really enjoy or i'd rather say didn't really need to be there such as the part when they made the honey and stuff about bees but then again, the author is meant to relate the bees to Lily and we get to learn stuff about bees so i don't really mind.

The thing i love about history is that the conflict between two sides such as communism & capitalism, and in this case, the blacks and the whites. I love seeing things in another perspective and compare it, for instance, how did the whites felt when they treated the blacks badly and how did the black felt when they were treated badly. Based on the novel, I learn how the blacks was treated especially to Rosaleen, and how unfair it was for the blacks. As a white girl, Lily also had a change in perspective towards the blacks. (shoutout to Lily :D) 

Throughout reading this novel, i had moments when i felt like ''Wow did that just happen?'' and ''OMG just tell her already! stop making me waitttt, i want to know the truthh tooo'' which is great. I think that we can all agree that Sue Monk Kid did a great job at making us curious and wanting to know more.

I would definitely recommend this novel to others especially to those who really love twist and turns or conflicts. I already recommend this book to a friend and he said so far so good. There you have i folks, my review on The Secret Life of Bees, i hope you take my ADVICE and READ THE BOOK! and as always peace out  - Zafry :D

Buzz Buzz Buzz

Holla! Hey guys, how's your life going? 

So yeah, every start will meet an end and this gonna be my last post on this blog and it is my reflection towards the novel the Secret Life of Bees, do enjoy reading it! 

Overall, the novel is just great. Lily is my forte. Her bravery and her maturity attracts me the most. I learnt that through life, it is yourself who decide to stay under the cave or to go out and see the sun. Do you get what I mean? It means that it is yourself to decide which path in life do you choose, either to have the negativity around you or get over it with the positivity. However, you must still have a strong belief in yourself in order to make a decision. Somehow Lily's situation is similar to mine where I was left too by my own mother and have to live with a fierce father. But nah, I survive. I know how hard it is to be in the situation where you really need the love from your mother but she isn't there for you. So for a 14 years old girl like Lily, it was such a big challenge to face it. Sue Monk Kidd really did a good job to portrays the strength of one could be even though life is being unfair. The part that I dislike and kinda hate is where there are gaps between the whites and the blacks. It is so unfair to have that stereotypical minded as we all are the same species. The skin color shouldn't be an issue.

Another best thing is that I get to know how bees lives. All this while, I've been hating that tiny little creature but the novel somehow brighten me up that these creatures are actually working hard in producing honey that gives a lot of benefits to humans. How important is the queen in the hives and purple honey do exist.

It sounds interesting, does it? So yeah I would recommend this book to others. It is good to widen your view and to motivate yourself when things goes wrong. Not forget to mention that this book would have change your perception towards so many things. So do read it!

I think that’s all from me.  Do leave your comment below.

Appreciate every single thing around you and live your life to the fullest!

XOXO

Ponders of the Bee

Buzz buzz... Hello there! How has your week been? I'm glad to say that I'm grateful that this week was a bit relaxing than usual. Well anyway, this might be my last blog entry for The Secret Life Of Bees (cries a river T_T hahahaha). So I thought of giving a brief summary and reflection on the novel :)

To be honest, I started reading the novel a bit late than my classmates but I still managed to finish reading it! And I don't regret it AT ALL! What I like most about the novel is the beauty of the writing style. I think Sue Monk Kidd did a very great job in portraying her messages in the novel. The language that she used plus the analogies (the connection between bees and Lily's life) is what makes the novel special to me. Like I didn't expect the storyline to be as such by looking at the title of the novel. So I guess the indirectness in the novel that she used is what caught my attention the most.



Besides, through this novel I've learnt A LOT of new stuff, For instance, how bees work, how life was when there was discrimination towards the blacks, and also about the religion that the Boatwright sisters practiced. I guess that I also empathised the troubles that Lily faced throughout her life yet I admire her courage and spirit. Lily is such a driven and strong girl and I think she's my favourite character besides August (I don't know which one to pick so I'll just choose both hehe). And I could also imagine the pain that the blacks felt being discriminated for how they were born. It's just so sad!

However, I don't really like the way Lily dealt with herself after knowing the truth about her mother and all that. Well, I don't think it's fair for her to judge her mother in such a harsh way. And also I disliked T-Ray from the start of the novel for being such a mean father. However, I think that those were what gave a greater impact on the novel hehe.

So guys, what are you waiting for? Go give this novel a read as I totally recommend it for you! (I'm rating it 5 stars!!!).  I hope that my reflection would somehow make you want to read it even more. I guess after this I'm going to watch the movie - despite Aminin always complaining about it haha. So, I hope that you'll have a great weekend. Till we meet again! (or not :p)

The Secret Life of Bees, a must read!

Hi! How are you guys doing? I hope you are doing fine as always. 

So today, I would like to give a bit reflection on the novel, The Secret Life of Bees. Overall, the novel is a powerful novel and it provides many lessons to be learned. I like the fact that the main character, Lily Owen were so strong even when she was facing negative things in her life at the age of fourteen. I found the story to be quite educational as some ideas were discussed in the novel, for instance, racism and prejudice. Throughout the story, we could see that many racism issues were raised by Sue Monk Kidd. The details of the story caused me to empathize with the black people such as Rosaleen. It made me feel sad that something like this occurred in those days as it does not seem right to treat any human in such ways. Well, I have to admit that this does not only occur during the 1960s, but it also occur now.

I loved this book and feel like it really had a big impact on me as I was reading it. I felt for the characters and the tragedies they experienced along the way. This book completely exceeded my expectations. The plot line had many twists and turns that I definitely not expecting. An example of one of the twists that surprised me is when May committed suicide. I know she were having a hard time dealing with the burden of the world, but I didn't expect that she would handle the burden of Zach being jailed with a suicide. This novel has also been made into a movie, so after I finished the novel, I decided to watch the movies. Although the plot was a bit different, I enjoy both novel and movie. Overall, there weren't many things that I did not like about the novel. 

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a story about friendship, the path to finding the truth and someone who is into heavy reading as it deals with heavy issue. I hope you enjoy my reflection and do drop some comments too! :)

THE END

Hello guys! How are you? I'm here alone in McD pondering about my life. I was supposed to go back home to Ipoh this weekend but unfortunately all tickets were sold out. T.T hahahaha! Sokayy, there must be a reason behind this. So, today might be the last time I update this blog. T.T (I don't cry for real okay) Basically, I'm gonna conclude everything about The Secret Life Of Bees that I've studied throughout this two weeks. There are a lot of things I wanna say about this novel. I just donno how to put it into words.

However, I'm still gonna summarise my experiences of learning this novel. Personally, I think that my personality have been influenced by Lily a bit. What I mean here is that I feel like I've enhanced my confidence level and improved my bravery. Seriously, if a 14 years old girl can do a lot of things in her life, why I can't? Other than that, I learn that determination plays a crucial role in our life. This is because the difference between the impossible and possible lies in a person's determination. Determination will get us through everything - in fighting for our rights, in searching for truth

For me, the most enjoyable part of reading the novel is getting to know a lot more about bees. This novel describe the best about bees' life. Who knows they can do this do that and create purple honey? I don't know that. If you wanna know who is my favourite character, I would say May Boatwright. I just love her. Honestly, I'm kinda a sad person (I believe so), but I always channel my sadness through RnB and Soul music. Lol. Don't judge my music preferences.

100% I will recommend this book to anyone. The novel itself is so mind opening and make us think about the world not only in our place but also in other places. It is so sad that even though we are already in the modern era, racism and prejudism still occur on Earth between different religions. ethnics and etc. Somehow this novel is interesting and entertaining yet opening our eyes to the world. To anyone who doesn't get the opportunity to read this novel, I will suggest you guys to do so. If you don't have the book, I don't mind to lend mine to you guys. We just need to spread love, give love and share love.

I think that's all for me. If you guys have any enquiries you can just comment below. Have a nice week. <3

I'm sorry, I just miss my friends!

The Secret Life of BEES

                                        Falling in Love with The Secret Life of Bees <3

Actually I have no word to describe or share all the beauty of this book. I know that this book was recently made into a movie but I manage to read the book first before I watch the movie. After I read this novel, I have found out that I enjoy the boon more that the movie. This is because I allow my mind to create the characters instead of seeing whomever was cast in that particular role. 

I seriously felt in love with the writer who wrote The Secret Life of Bees. Why?? Hmmmm.... Let me explain it to all of you. I am really really enjoy this novel's story line. This story of Lily is a very powerful one. Do you ever wonder about the life of a 14-years-old girl with no mother? And this happened on Lily, the main character of this novel. How can Lily knows about the life?? 

Her courage and determination in finding the truth behind her mother death are so powerful and motivating. Sometimes, I just feel like I want to run to Lily and wrap her up in a hug then tell her that everything will be okay. The images she has of her mother's last day on this world is really break my heart. I can't imagine my life without my mother! She doesn't really understand and remember the situation when her mother passed away. She also refers her dad as T-Ray instead of Daddy or Father. She can't see him as a father figure and just he is someone that always punishes her and yelling at her. Then, she run away from the house with Rosaleen. They go to Tiburon to find out the truth and she found it. In Tiburon, Lily learns so many things through experience and so on. She learns about The secret life of bees and also the information about her late mother. 

I think that Sue Monk Kidd does a very good and wonderful job of showing how segregated the whites and blacks were during this time. She teaches me so many things through this novel. Even though there is some negative info such as suicide and running away from house but the positive info is more than the negative info. She taught me to respect all the people even though we are different in religions. 

What??!!!! 

You don't believe in what I said above! 

Why don't you read this book?

I really recommend this novel to you. Then, you will know that all the statements that I said just now are all truth.

Click the below link if you want to download this novel.

www.steporebook.com/book/the-secret-life-of-bees-12376-pdf.html

Some deep stuff

Hi everyone! So it looks like all the discussions on the Secret Life of Bees are almost coming to an end. So to make it a proper one, we were assigned......REFLECTIONS! 

So yeah, this is me giving my two cents.

There are so many morals behind this novel but the one I feel holds the most gravity is that there will always be people who love you. This isn't supposed to sound conceited lol. I just feel very comforted by the idea of having people who love you, care for you and appreciate you the way you've never thought you deserve. Sometimes, there will be days (or in Lily's case, years) when you feel alone and incapable of facing the hurdles ahead. But when you believe, and eventually find those people who love you, you are reminded of the fact that you should be appreciating yourself as well. This is clearly shown in Lily's character when she finally realizes that she CAN be loved but only after August told her so. All this time, she hasn't realized that Rosaleen has loved her from the very beginning. I bet you if she'd realized that sooner, she wouldn't have been so hard on herself. 
I just think that more people should realize this cos I've seen some people go through breakdowns and having insecurities and what not, when in actual fact, they are amazing.
You, whoever that's reading this, are amazing. So, don't be too hard on yourself, yeah?
This just proves to show how love is such a strong power that can help fix souls.
It also reminds you to love the people around you no matter how bad your day is going. Overall, I think it's just heart-warming. 

One thing that I'm not so crazy about this novel is how underrated T. Ray and Deborah's relationship was. I feel like what happened between them personally holds a great deal of significance in this novel. T. Ray, an adequately normal guy ended up as such an abusive father to his own flesh and blood. Haven't you ever wondered what hurt him so badly? Sure, your wife leaving you might put a few scars here and there but we've all seen people who manage to cope with this issue. But the thing is, T. Ray just couldn't. He must've loved Deborah whole-heartedly, so genuinely and so honestly. He was heart-broken after she left him. The bad kind you get after a break-up times by 10,000. As in the heart-shattered-to-a-million-pieces-can-never-move-on-from-this-dying-inside kind. 14 years later and he's still that heart-broken man. Only now, he's just grown bitter over the years and hides his despair behind the veil of anger. It just amazes me how Deborah had such a huge impact on T. Ray's life like that. That said, I don't think that the line 'he treated her like a princess' gave T. Ray any justice. 

  (((Sorry it's 1 a.m and I'm feeling sappy)))

But I guess the reason behind this is to leave more room for Lily's perspective on the matter in which I think Sue Monk Kidd had executed perfectly. *hairflip* *blows nails*

I would definitely recommend this book to those out there who wish to understand the world a bit better as this book not only tells you how badly African-Americans were treated back in those days, it goes beyond that; a bit more personal. It reminds you to appreciate what you have. In this context, your mother, father, freedom and rights.

With love, 
Fatini.

Lying, storytelling and confession

Hello everyone! Hope you guys are feeling well. By the way, did you guys enjoy the camp?  Today, my group will be talking about one of the theme, which is lying, storytelling and confession. Throughout the story in The Secret Life of Bees, you might have notice this theme being portrayed.

In the beginning of the novel, this theme can be seen when the main character, Lily Owens who lied to Brother Gerald, the priest about Rosaleen being deaf in one ear, thus she did not know that she stole the fans. Lily also lies about going to the toen to take some things for Rosaleen where she's actually running away from home. Next, the theme is also shown in the character August Boatwright who told Lily the story behind the May's wailing wall. August said that since April, May's twin dies, May become strange. She would be deeply depressed if anything tragic happens to anyone. Thus, she made the wailing wall to deal with their suffering by tucking scraps of paper into the wall. 

"But she's deaf in one ear," I said. "I think she

just mixed up what you said. She's always doing that. T.

Ray will tell her, "Iron my two shirts," and she'll iron the

blue shirts." (pg 68)

"Wailing wall," she said again. "Like they have in

Jerusalem. The Jewish people go there to mourn. It's a

way for them to deal with their suffering. See, they write

their prayers on scraps of paper and tuck them in the

wall." (pg 144)

August is, hands down, a legendary story teller. August tells the story of how Black Mary became the mother of thousands. From Lily's perspective, she thought and I quote, "I could tell she had repeated those opening lines a thousand times." To give the story a soul, August had to be as influential and emotional as the story is, so that she could spread the message woven into the story by its' original storytellers.

On the other hand, Lily told stories too, but false ones. This cunning technique called lying were used by Lily to give people what they believe to be true. However, Lily eventually realised that truth is more powerful than lies when she thought, and I quote, "I didn't know how long Black Mary could keep the curtains drawn."

In the last 4 chapters, the themes of storytelling and confession started when Lily was waiting for August in August’s room. Lily reminds August that August wanted to have a talk with her soon, and August nods: she remembers. Lily shows August the photograph of her mother.  August explains that she knew that Lily was Deborah’s daughter as soon as she laid eyes on her, but never revealed the truth to Lily, because Lily wasn’t ready to face the truth. August tries to tell Lily everything. Years ago, she says, she worked as a maid in Deborah’s house in Richmond. Deborah was a lively child, though a bad student. Before August says anything more about Deborah, she asks Lily to tell her the truth about her own parents. Lily confesses that she’s been lying: her father, T.Ray, isn’t dead, as she’d claimed. She also tells August that T. Ray told her that Deborah was going to leave the family forever: this is why she decided to leave Sylvan. As she says this, Lily bursts into tears. August embraces Lily and tells her to “let it out.”

“It’s my mother,” I said.

“I know, honey. Your mother was Deborah Fontanel Owens.”

… “I’m so glad that we’re finally going to talk about this out.”

… “You knew she was my mother all along,”

… “The first day you showed up, I took one look at you and all I could see was Deborah when she was your age. I knew Deborah had a daughter, but I thought no, you couldn’t be; it was too much to believe that Deborah’s daughter would turn up in my parlor. Then you said your name was Lily, and right that minute I knew who you were.”

… “But – but – you never said a word. How come you didn’t tell me?”

“Because you weren’t ready to know about her. I didn’t want to risk you running away again. I wanted you to have a chance to get yourself on solid ground, get you heart bolstered up first. There’s a fullness of time for things, Lily. You have to know when to prod an when to be quiet, when to let things take their course. That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

… “I used to take care of her,” August said.

… “ She loved her dolls. She would hold little tea parties for them in the garden, and I would make these teeny-tiny sandwiches for their plates.”

… “What she didn’t like was schoolwork. I had to stay after her all the time about it. Chase her around calling out spelling words. One time she climbed a tree, hiding up there so she wouldn’t have to memorize a poem by Robert Frost. I found her and climbed up there with the book and wouldn’t let her come down till she could say the whole thing by heart.”

[chapter 12]

After she’s finished crying, Lily explains the rest of her story: she and Rosaleen snuck out of Sylvan after Rosaleen went to jail for trying to register to vote. As she admits this to August, she begins crying again. Lily thinks to herself that she’s a bad person: a liar and a thief, full of hate for other people. Reluctantly, Lily tells August the truth: she believes herself to be responsible for her mother’s death. As she says this, she says, “I am unlovable.”

… “Plus, Rosaleen and I got in trouble downtown, and I knew if I didn’t leave, T.Ray was gonna half kill me, and I was tired of being half killed.”

… “A policeman took us to jail,” I said.

… “The policeman said Rosaleen assaulted the men, but I was there, and she was only protecting herself. That’s all.”

[chapter 12]

The next day, Lily goes to meet August by the beehives. August shows Lily a beehive that’s missing a queen bee. As they look at the hive, August reminds Lily of the story of the runaway nun. The point of the story, August claims, was that in Deborah’s absence, the Lady of Chains could be a mother for Lily. She adds that Mary isn’t just a statue: she’s something inside Lily. Lily doesn’t understand what August means. Then, she closes her eyes, and for a few moments, feels exactly what August is talking about. 

… “Our Lady is not some magical being out there somewhere, like a fairy godmother. She’s not the statue in the parlor. She’s something inside of you. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

… “You have to find mother inside yourself. We all do. Even if we already have a mother, we still have to find this part of ourselves inside.”

… “You don’t have to put your hand on Mary’s heart to get strength and consolation and rescue, and all the other things we need to get through life,”

… “You can place it right here on your own heart. Your own heart.”

[chapter 14]

In our opinion, lying should be allowed when you have to protect something or ensure its privacy. However, it is always better to speak out the hard truth rather than lying to people as lying may lead to mistrust between people in a relationship. 

By storytelling, someone would have a better understanding regarding an issue. For instance, when August told Lily about the wailing wall, she get to understand May's condition better. 

Guilt from hiding something can make us feel mixed up inside and cause us to lose our peace and enjoy. This is why confession is important. When Lily confessed to August the real intention of her coming to the parlor, she started to be more happy instead of worrying about her secrets.

References :
1. www.litchart.com

Religion, Guilt And Forgiveness

Bzz Bzz Bzz, friends! How was your weekend? Was it great? Today, I'm going to continue discussing about The Secret Life Of Bees. Our main focus is the theme of the novel which is Religion, Guilt & Forgiveness.

In novel The Secret Life Of Bees itself talking about religion is a common thing. In this case we can understand that the Boatwright sisters are kind of religious persons where they keep the statue of the Black Mary in their house. In Chapter 6, when August had a gathering with the Daughters Of Mary in her pink house, she told the stories of the Black Mary again as there are new visitors. "The people called her Our Lady of Chains. They called her that not because she wore chains…" "Not because she wore chains," the Daughters chanted. "They called her Our Lady of Chains because she broke them."(page 137)

In the last pages of The Secret Life Of Bees, Lily stated that she visits Black Mary everyday as she feels like Black Mary has helped her through in her live. "Each day I visit Black Mary, who looks at me with her wise face, older than old and ugly in a beautiful way.......She is the muscle of love, this Mary." (page 374).

Being a religious kind of person teach us to hold on a faith and believe that God will always be there for us anytime an anywhere. 

As we can see from the novel, in Chapter 1, Lily suffers tremendous guilt for killing her own mother when she was four years old and at night she dreams of dying, meeting her mother in paradise, and asking for her forgiveness. "I would meet her saying, 'Mother, forgive. Please forgive,' and she would kiss my skin till it grew chapped and tell me I was not to blame." (page 30) In Chapter 2, Lily feels empty inside and she needs something. "I opened my mouth. I wanted something. Something, I didn’t know what. Mother, forgive. That’s all I could feel. That old longing spread under me like a great lap, holding me tight." (page 69 & 70)

At the end of the novel, when August tells Lily about Deborah, Lily becomes irate about her mother's abandonment. Lily can't grasp the concept of a nervous breakdown; all she hears is that her mother left her to come to August's house. She isn't ready to let her mother off the hook, forgiving her for seeking her own health first and leaving Lily with T. Ray. “Every person on the face of the earth makes mistakes, Lily. Every last one. We’re all so human. Your mother made a terrible mistake, but she tried to fix it.” (page 317)

In Chapter 14, Lily is mulling over what August has told her about her mother. She vacillates between being angry at her mother for leaving on the one hand, and better understanding her mother's motives on the other. Lily ponders the idea of why it is so difficult for people to forgive."In the photograph by my bed my mother is perpetually smiling on me. I guess I have forgiven us both, although sometimes in the night my dreams will take me back to the sadness, and I have to wake up and forgive us again." (page 373)

However, from all evidences that we found in the novel about guilt and forgiveness, there is someone else Lily must forgive: herself. Lily must forgive herself for killing her mother, and she must understand that this was an accident that she can't go back and fix. She has to go on, realizing she is a human being worthy of love.

All and all, we believe that this theme is very important to be highlighted as it is really related with our lives. Having a faith to God help us to deal with all the difficulties that we face in the world and being a forgiver can improve ourselves as an individual. Bye, peeps! Have a nice week.

References:

1. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/s/the-secret-life-of-bees/critical-essays/themes-and-symbols-of-the-secret-life-of-bees

A mother's love and the power of a female community

The role of a mother

From chapter 1 to chapter 5, the power of the female community which is the role of a mother is the main theme that the writer wanted to show to the readers.

Have you ever wonder about who is a mother? What is the role of a mother? And what will happen if a child loses his or her mother when he or she is still small?

If you had read this novel you will find out that Lily is yearning for her mother. These situation add to her loneliness and sense of being an outsider. Lily is already different from other teenagers at her school because she is excluded from the events like charm school because she is motherless. Lily really misses her mother when it comes to maturity issues such as picking out a training bra or starting her periods. You can actually see what is the role of a mother through the elaboration. Without a mother’s love, a child will grow up as an unloved.

Then, the story of her other’s death is repeated, both through Lily’s memory and T-Ray’s dubious explanation. Lily even suggests that her own death will allow her to meet her mother.

In this world, however, Lily has no one to help her with teenage dresses or explain the bits of wisdom that are passed from mother to daughter. Lily knows so little about her mother, so she makes up a lot of romantics stories about her and compares her own photo with that of her beautiful mother.  She dreams of what her mother would have been like and the motherly things she would have done, like brushing her hair. Sometimes, she even dreams that Rosaleen is her mother.

What is important to learn from this theme?

Through this theme, I found out that  a  mother actually plays an important role in her child’s life. Without a mother’s love, children can become a unloved person. This will make them feel like nobody cares about them and they will start to avoid their parents and so on.

Keepin me buseee

Dearest Buzzing Bees..
I've been spending my whole morning buseee responding to all the individual posts and I must say I've enjoyed myself! I noticed some of you commenting on each others post and that's good. What about the rest? You still have time to do so!


Reading your poems also was fun. You all wrote beautiful pieces! I hope it will help enhance your understanding of the characters more and eventually entice you to create a written assignment on one of the characters in the SLOBees.


I also must say that some of you wrote quite personal experiences and that may have been difficult to share. I appreciate your openness and honesty. At least I'd like to think that this blog has enabled you to have a platform to express yourselves freely and maybe get some friendly advice or two.


Anyway I'd like to end with a poem by Langston Hughes which I feel could be related to Lily.. and how she feels about wanting to know what happens to her mother..


Till we meet again in class.

I AM POEM (August) - by Dania and Nadya

Well, hello again readers!

Dania and Nadya's task this time was to imagine ourselves as August and make a poem based on her thoughts and actions.

Basically, this poem, divided into three stanzas tells randomly of August's life in the novel.

So here goes nothing :)

Happy reading!

I AM POEM

I am mighty and humble

I wonder how bees live

I hear sometimes, what people can't hear

I see the spirit of Mary everywhere

I want to stay a beekeeper for life

I am mighty and humble

I pretend not to know who Lily is

I feel happy when people find comfort in their lives

I touch their thoughts and hearts

I worry about Lily's future

I cry every time May goes to her Wailing Wall

I am mighty and humble

I understand that to get, you must give

I say bees have a secret life

I dream of a world without discrimination and segregation

I try to fight for equality

I hope that Lily could stay with us

I am mighty and humble

I Am Rosaleen

Well hello there everyone! We've now moved on to studying about the characters in The Secret Life Of Bees and we did something very interesting today. We had to write and recite a poem based on one of the characters that Miss Shereen gave us, and we got Rosaleen! So basically me and Ayizz wrote this poem on the point of view of Rosaleen that wanted equality among the blacks and the whites. And we thought of sharing our poem with you guys! :)

I Am Poem

I am bold and strong
I wonder when this misery will end
I hear the calling of freedom
I see people dying of fear
I want my voice to be heard

I am bold and strong
I pretend to be tough and reckless
I feel free of anxiousness
I touch the land of freedom
I worry that this will never end
I cry for the discriminated

I am bold and strong
I understand it's impossible for us to unite
I say that we are all the same
I dream we would become in sync
I try to be unique and shine brighter
I hope that this dream will come true

I am bold and strong


Hope you guys enjoyed it! Till we see again in my next entry. :)

I Am Lily by Bee and Fatini

Hello everyone! This is a poem Bee and I wrote today. It describes Lily's point of view about her own insecurities and the emotion she harbors towards her mother. Her views might have changed as the story progresses but this poem is intended to capture her feelings in the very beginning of the story. Hope you like it!

I Am Lily


I am alone and unloved
I wonder what I have done ten years ago
I hear my mother's yells.... till now
I see a gun on the floor 
I want to demolish that memory from my head

I am alone and unloved 
I pretend my mother is here sometimes
I feel the longing of her love
I touch her arms and apologize
I worry that she doesn't love anymore
I cry because I don't blame her

I am alone and unloved
I understand my own father hates me
I say he is not my daddy but T. Ray
I dream of my mother forgiving me, kissing me in her arms
I try to believe it's real
I hope deep down, it is real

I am alone and unloved.

The Naive And Different

Hye guys!! I'm back. So today, I'm going to post a poem that I did with Zafry during English lesson today. So, basically, the poem are about the characters in The Secret Life Of Bees. Zafry and I were assigned to do I Am Poem on May Boatwright, who is such an innocent character. This poem is divided into three stanza - the first stanza is about her twin sister, April, the second stanza is about her sadness towards the world and her surrounding and the last stanza is about herself. Enjoy! :D

I Am May

I am naive and different
I wonder why April left me alone
I hear her dead voice all the tim
I see her by my side always
I want her to come back 

I am naive and different
I pretend everything is fine and alright
I feel the pain of the world
I touch the heart of the world
I worry thinking about this dreadful world
I cry thinking about this horrendous world

I am naive and different
I understand life is unfair
I say life should be flourished with love
I dream life is perfect
I try to be strong and positive
I hope God will guide me through

I am naive and different

*p/s : if u need any further explanation or any evidences about the poem you can just simply comment on this post. :)

Nadya's POV on Life

Hey readers, we meet again!

I’m Nadya and now you’re tuned in to my story!

Today, I’m interested in intertwining our main character Lily’s philosophy in Chapter 1 with my own life philosophy. So, I can’t tell a story without you guys understanding what philosophy means, right? Basically, philosophy means your way of understanding life.

In Chapter 1, the naive Lily understood her world as whites and blacks being able to live together, but blacks were inferior to the whites and should be separated either in terms of entry into public toilets, enrollment in schools and involvement in churches. She accepted this ideology as her way of living or life philosophy.

However, Lily’s philosophy in chapter 1 does not go in tandem with my way of looking at life. I see and hope to continue seeing people of different races, religions and skin colors live well together without discrimination. My only reason for this is that I object to any kind of violence, either mentally or physically. Mental violence, or bullying could be in terms of brainwashing white children's minds that they are not at fault in any fights they get into with a black child. The same goes to brainwashing black children's minds that they're not meant for success and education. Physical violence refers to abusing someone else's body parts such as hitting and burning the skin.

I thought that, by having the courage to stay with my philosophy of living in peace, everyone else would sooner or later understand why it's important to not have discrimination when you're living in a society.

With love,
Nadya.

Memories are treasure

Howdy peeps! So who can guess what I'm gonna talk about today? Okay, I'll give a few clues. What did you eat for breakfast? And what was the first breakfast you ever had? Oh my, can any of you answer the second one? So, any guesses? Well, lets just get straight to the point. Today's topic is about MEMORIES.

Memories. What are they actually? Well, they're basically what we remember and store in our brain. And the ability for our brains to store these memories (how many and the earliest memories) differ from someone to another. As for Lily in the Secret Life Of Bees, her earliest memory was on the day her mother died when she was only four years old. She remembers being in the room, watching her mother pack her stuff when T-Ray comes and they start fighting. The last thing she remembers is the sound of a gunshot. The saddest thing is that that memory of hers made her think that she was the one that killed her mother. Oh, poor Lily, having to live with such dark memories from such a young age.

What about my earliest memories. Well, to be honest I remember quite a lot from my childhood. I remember that I had already memorised my favourite story book at the age of three, Meg Mouse and Her Velvet Jacket. And I still remember what the story's about even though it was fourteen years ago! I also remember that I used to play doll house and dress up when I was around 5 or 6 years old. That's not all of it yet hahaha. My favourite childhood cartoons were Dora The Explorer, Peppa Pig, Timothy Goes To School, Fifi and the Flowertots and many more! Hahaha. I also remember the first movie that I cried to, Brother Bear. Wow, it looks like I remember quite a lot from such a young age!

One of my favourite childhood cartoons :)

Me at the age of two. I guess I was always a chubby girl haha :) 

So, I think that it depends on the person itself. Maybe I can remember stuff since I was three years old, Lily at the age four, and what about you? Different people have different abilities in storing memories. Whatever it is, I believe that memories are one of the most valuable treasures that one can possess, despite how sad or dark it is. Because that's the beauty of memories, even if ten people were at the same place at a particular time, all ten of them would remember different things. So yeah, memories are very precious and special! And I wouldn't do anything to change the memories that I have, because as I said just now, even the darkest memories are special in their own way.

South Carolina

The Geography Of South Carolina

Hello there my fellow readers. So how’re you guys doing? Remember the novel The Secret Life Of Bees that I asked you guys to check out? So, I thought of sharing a few things about the settings in the novel that I found interesting and maybe you will too!

SOUTH CAROLINA

The main setting of the novel is basically in South Carolina, a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the south and west by Georgia across the Savannah River, and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. South Carolina consists of lots of cities and towns and has Columbia as its capital. It is also well-known for its shoreline of beaches and marsh-like sea islands. 

The map of South Carolina

The flag of South Carolina

Columbia, the capital of South Carolina

SLYVAN AND TIBURON IN THE REAL WORLD

Sylvan and Tiburon are a few other settings in the novel but these are only fictional and don't exist in the real world hahaha. Well actually there is a real Tiburon, but it's in California, not South Carolina. However, there are a few places that are similar to the ones in the novel and really exist. And guess what, they're all in South Carolina!

THE PINK HOUSE

Pink House in South Carolina

Remember the Pink House in Tiburon that the Boatwright sisters lived in ? There is a one that’s exactly similar to it in South Carolina! The Pink House is a historic house and art gallery at 17 Chalmers Street in Charleston, South Carolina that is one of the oldest buildings in South Carolina and the oldest one in Charleston. Currently, the house features an art gallery. 

PEACH FARM

 

As we know, Lily lived in a peach farm in Sylvan, South Carolina. Well, there happens to be one South Carolina that's owned by the McLeod family of McBee. It's not that surprising as South Carolina itself is the leader of peach production. The family's slogan “Life’s a peach“ means more than that for them since they've been dealing with peaches since 1916 and the farmis currently operated by the fourth generation of The McLeods! The family operates one of the largest peach orchards in the area, with 650 acres in production . The type of loam soil surrounding the small towns of McBee, SC that's sandy makes it suitable for 22 varieties of peaches to be grown there. Imagine how big the farm is! 

It takes about 40 workers to run the farm throughout the year. However, during the peach season (late May through August), the numbers swell to over 200. Workers can be found picking, grading, packing, and preparing shipments for millions of pounds of peaches to all parts of the U.S. and Canada. At the peak of the season, daylight to dusk workdays are something normal.

The peaches at the farm are picked every day.  The fruit is then sent through an ice-cold water bath to slow the ripening process. After being sealed with an ultra-light wax coating that closes the pores of the peaches to keep them fresh, they're then sorted by size, shape, and colour.  The workers do all of the grading for shipment to individuals, commercial customers as well as retail sales areas.  

The peach production process begins long before harvest. From January to April, trees are pruned and branches are tied together so they don't drag the ground or break under the weight of the fruit.  Once the fruit is visible, it's thinned to allow a hand’s width between each peach so that the peaches will turn out big and juicy. Yuummm! You know what? The average productive life of a peach tree is seventeen years,  but it usually takes four years before the trees produce high quality fruit. After the trees have become unproductive, the ground is allowed to rest for several years before replanting.  

No wonder the family business has been a success for so many years. The techniques that they use as well as their high-tech equipment makes the best peaches to be produced. As a peach lover, I'd really love to visit the farm to get a live glimpse of the production process and of course, take a bite into a few of their peaches hihihi.

BEE FARM

 

Next stop, Tiburon. Or is it? Oh, that's in the novel. But there's a similar place to the Boatwright sister's honey farm in South Carolina, Bee Well Honey Farm & Supply Inc. Bee Well Honey Farm & Supply Inc. is a family owned business and operated by Kerry and Donna Owen. They are the producers and distributors for “Bee Well Honey” produced in the Southeast region of the United States. Their focus is on production and distribution and have improved customer service for retail grocers. What's so special about their honey? The fact that they still use old fashioned methods of extracting and bottling! The family is so dedicated in the business, making them highly motivated in branding, promotions and product creation. So there's no need to question why families and honey coinsurers all crave for their honey. Bee Well Honey is 100% PURE HONEY RAW and made in the USA. The family has also brought the business to a higher level by offering educational boot-camps for beginning and advanced beekeepers, and sells beekeeping equipment and honeybees to beekeepers all across Upstate South Carolina. Oh my, their honey must taste great! How I wish I could have a taste hahaha.